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HHS outlines communications staffing, ADA web compliance and recent outreach campaigns
Summary
Communications director Lynn Bargmann told the appropriations panel the department centralized communications, added embedded managers, ran a Recovery Rocks campaign and a Stay Covered Medicaid outreach effort supporting redetermination of roughly 130,000 participants, and is preparing for an April 2026 DOJ/ADA web-accessibility requirement.
Lynn Bargmann, chief communications officer for the Department of Health and Human Services, described a recently centralized and embedded communications model and reviewed staffing, recent outreach and upcoming compliance work for the committee.
Bargmann said the communications function has moved from a fragmented model to a centralized division with embedded communications managers who work directly with program teams. She said the division had 8 FTE and 4 temporary staff at the time of the agency integration and now reports 11 filled FTE, 3 vacant FTE in the hiring process (for a total of 14), plus one temporary grant-funded position through June 2026.
Bargmann highlighted recent work the division has supported: a Recovery Rocks campaign during National Recovery Month that the department said received pickup in four to five local media markets and partner amplification, and a Stay Covered campaign that the communications team supported during Medicaid redeterminations. She said the Stay Covered work supported redetermination efforts for more than 130,000 Medicaid participants.
On accessibility, Bargmann warned of a coming DOJ requirement tied to the Americans with Disabilities Act that will take effect in April 2026 and said the department has formed an interagency committee including legal staff to begin compliance work. "We are already doing that," she said, describing website color, tagging and document accessibility work and noting the department will need help making vendor sites and portals compliant.
Bargmann also described three positions repurposed from the agency's block grant to strengthen communications: a behavioral health communications manager, an internal communications manager, and a role supporting children, family and aging services. She said embedded managers help plan proactively with program teams, close the feedback loop on analytics and support vendor-managed campaigns.
Committee members asked about campaign metrics, ADA specifics such as whether slide content would be read for blind users, and cross-agency outreach with chambers and other state agencies; Bargmann said metrics are tracked through Google Analytics and that the communications team participates in a state communicators network.
No committee action was taken. Bargmann said website refresh, ADA compliance work, and additional media relations capacity are priorities for the coming year.
